Primarily motivated by the practical question of whether it is feasible to identify the barriers that English instructors would face while cultivating students' intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in a ubiquitous learning (u-learning) environment, the study outlined in this chapter examined English instructors' online teaching experience in terms of their beliefs and pedagogical practice. A mixed-method research design was adopted to collect data from a survey among 110 English as a second language (ESL) instructors in Chinese universities and interviews with five of them. The findings indicated significant tension between Chinese ESL instructors' disposition towards effective intercultural education in a u-learning environment and their deeply held pedagogical conviction that teaching ICC requires face-to-face interactions. The authors, therefore, suggest that Chinese ESL instructors should be equipped with alternative teaching beliefs toward more innovative educational approaches.

Mobile devices and technology integration in teaching and learning are becoming common tools in education. However, not all technology-enhanced instruction is structured in the same manner. At the same time, mobile learning is a comparatively new occurrence and the theoretical fundamental is presently under development. Thus, this paper presents a comprehensive pedagogical view among the current Mandarin mobile learning practice to the existing MALL framework and principles. The researcher cum instructor conducted an individual Mandarin mobile instruction via smartphone applications. The results from the implementation were qualitatively studied and analysed to evaluate as to what extent the Mandarin practice has kept up with the existing MALL pedagogical framework and principles. The emerging truths found in the results that might be impactful for Mandarin mobile learning were pedagogical skill, situation task content, continuous reflection, readiness, and native speaker.

Background and Purpose: Pinyin is required in learning Mandarin. The challenge of Romanised Pinyin is that learners must decipher the meaning of words based on the change of tone. Communication research is often conducted without accounting for the effects of the change of tone in learning a language. With the aim of avoiding miscommunication while strengthening awareness, Campus Buddies Programme was employed to provide tone practice for learners and consequently explores the effectiveness of the intervention.   Methodology: This quantitative classroom-based research gathered information through the administration of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to 32 Mandarin Level 1 learners identified through purposive sampling. The students studied five topics from the syllabus. A total of 10 native speakers who scored A in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) mentored the learners during the programme. The participants were instructed to answer both pre- and post-tests. Part A consists of demographic details, whereas Part B focuses on the effectiveness of questions and Part C consists of 30 questions of content learned by the respondents. The data were then analysed using SPSS 26 software.   Findings: The respondents demonstrated a positive response towards the programme and suggested further improvement ideas such as prolonging the training session and adding more topics and oral activities. The results implicated the programme as a motivator for oral fluency. Many non-native speakers can benefit from conversation with Mandarin native speakers because it is a strong indicator and sound oral mastery strategy.   Contributions: This research provides insights into the effectiveness of the current programme in motivating students’ oral learning. The outcome is essential in determining the Mandarin conversation strategy. More studies adopting different variables are proposed to explore correlations from different perspectives in order to improve students’ oral learning.   Keywords: Tonal pronunciation, native speakers, non-native speakers, foreign language instruction, Mandarin conversation.   Cite as: Chua, N. A., Soon, G. Y., Ibrahim, M. Y., Che Noh, C. H., Mansor, N. R., Embong Eusoff, A. M., Abdul Rashid, R., & Shen, M. (2022). The Mandarin oral mastery programme as perceived by non-native learners.  Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 1-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp1-23